While the leftwing has recently discovered who the Kochs are due to their involvement in the tea parties, this site has been well aware of them for years due to their support for groups that advocate for loose and open borders such as Reason Magazine, the Cato Institute, and other libertarian-oriented organizations. And, others have been aware of them for decades (link).

Perry and McDonnell should speak to any group, but they should also disagree with groups that promote bad public policies. But, since these are private meetings we probably won't find out what they said or what they discussed after their speeches.

While Perry isn't a libertarian hack who supports open borders, the likelihood that he fundamentally disagrees with the Kochs about loose immigration and free trade is slim. Especially since the Kochs were strong supporters of NAFTA (see the previous link), and Perry was the originator of the Texas version of the NAFTA Superhighway, the TransTexas Corridor.

Republican politicians were gathering near Vail on Sunday for a semiannual retreat aimed at promoting business-friendly policy.

The meetings are organized by two of the nation's most powerful conservative political donors, Charles and David Koch of the privately held energy giant Koch Industries. Their brother, William Koch , who on Saturday paid $2 million at a Denver auction for a tintype image of Billy the Kid, also is a conservative political donor, but he does not participate in his brothers' activities.

The guest list is kept secret, and organizers won't say where the four-day retreat is being held beyond describing it as in the Vail area. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he will attend this year's retreat. Previous guests have included South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck , and Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz .

On Friday, a spokeswoman for Koch Industries said, "The purpose of this conference is to develop support for the kind of free-market policies and initiatives that can get our country back on the path to economic prosperity and sustained job creation."

Perry spokesman Mark Miner described the Colorado summit as a “private gathering of business leaders” and said it was not related to a possible presidential campaign.

“This was an opportunity to talk about the economic success in Texas,” Miner said, adding that it was no different than other speeches Perry gives touting the Texas job record.

Miner also said Perry talked about issues related to his role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Perry frequently talks in public political speeches about the importance of electing Republican governors around the country.

...It’s not entirely clear how Perry got to Colorado, but a plane owned by aircraft dealer Goldsmith Team LLC flew from Aspen to Georgetown on Sunday, flight records show.

In 2010, Goldsmith made more than $25,000 worth of in-kind contributions to Perry’s re-election campaign. And now that the legislative session and veto period are over, Perry and other state officials can again accept in-kind contributions.